West Bengal: Kin can now take Covid victim’s body to native place

The order further said, “Under no circumstances, (the) disposal of (a) body should be kept pending for want of (a) Covid report. In all such cases, (the) body should be disposed of following Covid protocol.”

The West Bengal government has changed the Standard Operating Protocol (SOP) for handing over bodies of Covid-19 patients.

The government issued a new order saying, “The kin of the deceased patient may take the body to the identified crematorium or burial ground near the place of death or if they like so, may take the body to the native place or own locality of the deceased, but in the case the body has to be taken straight to the identified crematorium or burial ground of that locality and not anywhere else, (it should be done) with prior intimation to the Nodal Officer of the concerned ULB or Block for cremation or burial of Covid bodies.”

It further stated, “The kin participating in the funeral should follow the Covid protocol. Sometimes the patients are brought to the hospital in very late stage in moribund condition. Beside initiating treatment urgently, the RAT should be done immediately to know the Covid status so that in case of death, the certificate can be issued at the earliest and the body may be disposed accordingly.”

The order further said, “Under no circumstances, (the) disposal of (a) body should be kept pending for want of (a) Covid report. In all such cases, (the) body should be disposed of following Covid protocol.”

Meanwhile, the state reported 19,436 new infections and 127 deaths over the last 24 hours. The figures were up from 19,216 Covid cases and 112 fatalities on Friday. With the fresh infections, the number of active cases in West Bengal rose to 1,24,098. However, the state also logged 17,780 recoveries on Saturday, taking the number of patients cured and discharged to 8,18,108. The discharge rate is now at 85.73%.

Of the 19,436 persons testing positive over the last 24 hours, nearly 8,000 are from Kolkata and the North 24-Parganas.

The state capital accounted for 3,961 cases over the last 24 hours, while the North 24-Parganas reported 3,982 infections. Howrah, South 24-Parganas and Hoogly recorded 1,196, 962 and 947 cases respectively, while Nadia, Purba Burdwan, Birbhum and Paschim Burdwan accounted for 932, 744, 785 and 941 infections.

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